Beauty: If lipstick won't stick, consider new products, techniques

Tuesday

Mar 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 31, 2009 at 2:03 AM

Vertical lines above the upper lip are the bane of many women’s beauty regimen. Lipstick looks great when first applied, but slowly color seeps into those lines, leaving lips bare and lines all too visible. Help is available with new products and techniques.

Tara Kingston

Vertical lines above the upper lip are the bane of many women’s beauty regimen. Lipstick looks great when first applied, but slowly color seeps into those lines, leaving lips bare and lines all too visible. Help is available with new products and techniques.

1. Avoid lip gloss and super-shiny formulas, says Erica Maniscalco, a freelance makeup artist from New York City. These formulas tend to draw attention to the lines and bleed easily. A better bet is mineral or high-pigment lipstick formulas, says Elizabeth Weiler, licensed aesthetician and makeup artist with the DuPage Medical Group’s Institute of Aesthetic Surgery in Warrenville, Ill.

2. Start with smooth lips, Maniscalco advises. She uses a facial moisturizer on and around lips and lets it sink in before applying other products. She also recommends applying cream foundation to lips with a concealer brush before adding color.

3. Always line lips in a color that’s exact to your lipstick or close to the color of your lips, Weiler says. Also, use lip liner on the entire lip surface before applying lipstick. It not only primes the lips, but ensures some color will stick even if lipstick wears off.

4. Weiler uses a skin-tone eye pencil on the skin just above the upper lip. Eye pencils have a higher wax content than lip pencils, which creates a barrier so lip color won’t creep up. This also creates a highlight along the lip line, making the top lip appear fuller, she says.

5. Once lip color is applied, both makeup artists recommend a trick to keep it in place: Take a standard two-ply tissue and separate it into one-ply sheets. Place the one-ply tissue over lips and, using a fluffy powder brush, push loose, matte powder through the tissue. Then add another coat of lipstick.

Dr. Francesca Fusco, dermatologist with Wexler Dermatology Group in New York City, says to try using retinol (at drugstores) or retinoid (prescription) products or an at-home peel regularly if your lines are light.

For deeper wrinkles, Dr. Steven Sigalove, board-certified plastic surgeon with the DuPage Medical Group’s Institute of Aesthetic Surgery in Warrenville, Ill., suggests fillers containing collagen or hyaluronic acid. These fillers are injected into the vermillion border of the lip or into lines themselves. They plump up the area where injected, but only last about six months, he says. Fat from other body areas also can be injected into the lines and tends to last longer.

Another option for deep wrinkles is the fractionated CO2 laser. Fusco says three to six treatments with the laser are usually necessary, with treatments taking place every four to six weeks. Downtime for the treatment is minimal, with 24 to 36 hours of pinkness in the area.